<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Signal to Noise by sakuuya</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619229">Signal to Noise</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuuya/pseuds/sakuuya'>sakuuya</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Battle for London in the Air (Roleplay)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Conversations, Big sister Cordelia, Canon Compliant, F/M, not actually canon tho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:40:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuuya/pseuds/sakuuya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of conversations in which Cordelia’s concern for her sister does her credit, but she’s barking up entirely the wrong tree.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andrew O'Rourke/Captain Cordelia French, Dr. Anil Jhandir &amp; Celine Abinall</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Celine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Cordelia knocked at the door of the little terraced house that Blarion and Celine were renting, she could hear her sister bounding down the stairs like a big dog. She and Celine had seen each other a lot more since Celine and Blair came to London, but Celine still treated every meeting like an event.</p><p>“Hi! Come on in! Before you ask, you just missed Blair. He had some kind of meeting at the museum.” Celine was pulling Cordelia into a hug before she even finished explaining their brother’s absence.</p><p>“Well, tell him hello for me,” Cordelia said once they let go. “Has Helena been in contact the past couple days?”</p><p>“Oh, yes! I got a note from her yesterday about the laboratory mission. It’s going to be so interesting to see mechanicals up close, don’t you think?”</p><p>“Celine…”</p><p>“You didn’t come here to try and convince me I shouldn’t go, did you?” Celine asked with a frown. “Dr. Jhandir already tried that, and I’ll tell you the same thing I told him: I’m a grown woman, and I can take care of myself in dangerous situations.”</p><p>“You won’t hear me arguing that Abinall women are anything less than strong as hell,” Cordelia agreed. “But I brought you something in case you want a little reassurance.”</p><p>She pulled a small pistol—small enough to fit in a handbag—from her skirts and offered it to her sister grip-first. Celine grinned, but before she could take it, a kettle screeched from somewhere deeper in the house.</p><p>“Hold onto that for me!” Celine called over her shoulder as she hurried over to the kitchen. “And thank you!”</p><p>While Celine got the tea ready, Cordelia made her way into the parlor. Her eyes caught the painting sitting on an easel in the corner. That wasn’t unusual; Celine had always claimed that the parlor got the best light in the house. The subject matter, a man whose skin had been cut to ribbons, also wasn’t strange for one of Celine’s paintings. It looked distressingly like it had been painted from life, but then, Celine’s art so often did, and Cordelia was pretty sure she’d know if her sister had access to some of the items that had shown up in other paintings—Celine had nowhere to discreetly store an iron maiden, for instance. She’d long decided that it wasn’t worth losing sleep over.</p><p>The painting also depicted a hand holding a bloody scalpel, and—here <em> was </em> something unusual—that hand was darker-skinned than Celine typically painted. In fact, it looked a little like…</p><p>“Did you paint Dr. Jhandir’s hand?”  Cordelia asked when Celine came in with the tea. Celine looked confused for a second before she saw where Cordelia’s gaze had fallen.</p><p>“Oh, yes!” the younger woman replied, enthusiastic as ever to discuss her art. “I actually painted that for him, to thank him for being so free with information. He’s been a great inspiration to me.”</p><p>Cordelia took a second to compose her thoughts as she spooned a little sugar into her tea before replying. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately. I’m glad you’ve been able to make friends here.”</p><p>There. That sounded appropriately neutral, unlikely to drive Celine to make any bad decisions out of willfulness. But Celine <em> blushed</em>. Cordelia’s sister, who thought it was funny to flirt indiscriminately and without any deeper intent, actually blushed! God, this is what Cordelia had been afraid of when she introduced them. </p><p>“I like him a lot,” Celine mumbled, staring down into her tea.</p><p>“I know Anil knows a lot about the things you’re interested in. But I want you to consider very carefully whether it’s worth investing anything beyond intellectual curiosity in him.”</p><p>Celine blew a raspberry. “Oh, come on. Are you trying to tell me that he’s too dangerous to date, just because of the stuff he used to do for a living?”</p><p>“No, that’s not it at all! I don’t think he’d try to hurt you. But…” Cordelia sighed. “You may end up getting hurt anyway. Anil doesn’t understand how to be in a relationship with a woman.”</p><p>“And how would you know that?”</p><p>Cordelia sucked in a breath through her teeth. Damn, she’d been hoping to avoid this, but if she wanted Celine to listen to her, she had to be honest. “He and I dated. Briefly.”</p><p>“Holy Moses!”</p><p>“He never acted like he had any romantic interest in me. I was just an intellectual sparring partner, and he called that dating. It wasn’t anything serious, but if you have real romantic intentions… I’m just worried that you’ll get your heart broken.”</p><p>Celine looked down at her tea again for a long moment. “It’s not like that for us,” she said quietly, without looking up.</p><p>“I’m just worried about you. You haven’t been in a serious relationship before—”</p><p>“Well, yeah, not all of us have the benefit of having already stepped out with Dr. Jhandir—sorry, <em> Anil</em>.”</p><p>“—And I don’t want you rushing into something unsustainable,” Cordelia finished as if she hadn’t been interrupted.</p><p>“It’s not like that with us!” Celine protested again. “Maybe you just didn’t have enough in common.”</p><p>“Maybe. I’m just worried that you’re feeling a level of emotional connection that Dr. Jhandir just isn’t capable of.”</p><p>Celine snorted out a laugh. “Oh, no need to worry about that!”</p><p>Cordelia’s mind immediately conjured up the most horrifying possible scenario. “You two haven’t…”</p><p>“Shit, Cordelia! We held hands! <em> Once!</em>” </p><p>“Okay, okay! I’m just worried about my little sister falling for someone unworthy of her. But if you say that what you feel for Dr. Jhandir is mutual, I believe you.” She tried to remember whether Anil had ever held her hand while they were dating. If it happened, she couldn’t recall it now. “If he breaks your heart, though, I’m going to burn down his house.”</p><p>“Ha! Thank you, I guess. But I don’t think you have to worry.”</p><p>“All right. Well, I’ve taken enough of your time. Take this, and good luck at the labs.” Cordelia set the gun on the arm of the sofa and stood up, arms outstretched. Celine hugged her like their argument had never happened.</p><p>“Thanks! I’ll let you know how it goes.”</p><p>“Please do!” Cordelia let Celine lead her back to the front door. Her sister seemed happy enough, but Cordelia just didn’t trust Anil to be a good boyfriend. She hoped she wouldn’t have to burn down his house.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Anil</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Anil is no help at all.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two days later, Cordelia hadn't been able to put the conversation with her sister out of her mind. Celine had been happy and confident, but was it only security born of inexperience? Cordelia knew firsthand that while Anil certainly couldn't be described as charming, he did have a certain magnetism.</p><p>Dating Anil wasn't the worst romantic decision Cordelia had ever made—mortifying as that was to contemplate—but her previous experience also meant that she'd been able to see right away that things weren't going to work out between them. Celine didn't have that kind of background. As far as Cordelia knew, Celine had <em>never</em> had a serious relationship. And with her keen interest in the sort of gruesome things a government scientist would know about…</p><p>Well, Cordelia believed <em>Celine</em> believed that she had real romantic interest in Anil and that the feeling was mutual. But there was still an itchy little fear in the back of Cordelia's mind.</p><p>She didn't want to grill her sister about it again. It wasn't becoming, this fear that Celine couldn't take care of herself. Celine would be hurt, maybe even angry, if she knew.</p><p>Even so, it was Cordelia's prerogative as an older sister to ensure that potential suitors knew the consequences of breaking Celine's heart.</p><p>One useful thing about Anil turning his duplex into a full-on resistance base was that Cordelia wasn't obligated to announce a visit before she made it. She had her own set of keys, even, to aid in the discreet delivery of medical supplies. Besides, she knew that she could count on Anil to be home. He hardly ever left the place these days.</p><p>He was home today as expected, though Cordelia had to wait for him to finish extracting a bullet from a young woman's arm before he was free to speak with her.</p><p>"I saw you lurking there," he said by way of greeting once the injured girl had gone down to the basement to rest. "Are you injured?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Is there a problem with your supply lines?"</p><p>"Not that either."</p><p>"Then I'm very busy, so if you'll excuse me…"</p><p>Cordelia fought to keep her face neutral. "I can help with whatever you have to do next if you can talk while we're about it, but I think you might prefer to have this conversation in private."</p><p>"And what conversation would that be?" Anil asked, narrowing his eyes. His hackles were up, but Cordelia hadn't expected to be able to avoid that.</p><p>"It's about Celine."</p><p>"Is <em>she</em> injured?" Anil sounded significantly more worried about that possibility.</p><p>"No, no, she's fine. Look, would you like to hash this out in public or not?"</p><p>Anil's thin lips narrowed further. "Follow me."</p><p>They ended up squeezing into Anil's small kitchen, one of the only areas of the duplex that was supposed to be off-limits to regular resistance personnel. The bedroom would have been more comfortable, but Cordelia supposed Anil was worried about scandal, as though anyone would believe it of him. He scowled when she hopped up on the counter, but there was only one chair at the little table, and he'd taken it himself rather than offering it to his guest.</p><p>"So," he said, staring suspiciously up at her, "What did you want to tell me about your sister?"</p><p>"She thinks you're dating."</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"<em>Yes</em>, she thinks that, or <em>yes</em>, you're dating?"</p><p>"The latter, although I fail to see what business it is of yours." The infuriating thing about Anil (one of the infuriating things) was how difficult it was to tell whether he was actually hiding something or just being secretive as a reflex.</p><p>"It's my business because Blair and I are all she has. If you hurt her, it's me you'll have to answer to." Cordelia left implied the threat of torching his house. She assumed he knew.</p><p>"And what on earth makes you think I intend to hurt her?" Anil demanded. "I'm not some seducer, breaking girls' hearts for sport."</p><p>Cordelia had to take a second to compose herself so she wouldn't burst out laughing at that image. "Oh, I don't think you'd hurt her on purpose. But she's a lot younger than you and me, and I'm concerned that she may want more out of a relationship than you do."</p><p>Anil smirked. "You have nothing to worry about there."</p><p>"I'm being serious, Anil!" Somehow, his mirth was even more frustrating than his paranoia. "You're not—it's fine that you don't care about love or romance. I'm not here to condemn you for being a cold fish. But you need to make damn sure that she knows what she can expect if she continues seeing you."</p><p>"Celine is a smart young lady," Anil replied, infuriatingly calm. "And I, for one, trust her to make her own choices."</p><p>Cordelia gritted her teeth. How had she ever dated this irritating little man?</p><p>"Don't patronize me. Just because I'm concerned for Celine doesn't mean I'm treating her like a child. I simply hoped that, as the more experienced member of the relationship, I could count on you to act your age."</p><p>Anil scoffed. "Now who's being patronizing? Was there anything else, or did you just come here to baselessly accuse me of ruining your sister's virtue?"</p><p>"No, that was about it," Cordelia said acidly. "Thank you for being so accommodating."</p><p>He didn't look like he was about to be good host and walk her to the door, so she hopped down from the counter and stalked out of the kitchen. Thankfully, no one was in the parlor at the moment to see her thunderous expression. Why had she thought that talking to this arse would ease her mind? She couldn't imagine, at the moment, why Celine would ever put up with him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Andrew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Cordelia finally talks to someone with nothing to hide.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>No matter how annoyed Cordelia was with Anil, she needed to smuggle medical supplies to him. She had her pride, and she had her duty. The people at the infirmary needed her, regardless of the fact that the head doctor was acting like a little tit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, she was glad to have this latest shipment safely off the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Belladonna </span>
  </em>
  <span>and packed into an unremarkable and therefore unsuspicious lorry. And being the captain had its perks, including delegation. She sent Bradley off in the lorry so she wouldn't have to talk to Anil herself today and could spend time with the man she loved instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew had done a lot more of the actual loading and unloading than Cordelia had, and it was a warm afternoon, which, combined, meant that he'd removed his shirt partway through the job. Cordelia certainly wasn't complaining. She sat down next to him and leaned on his warm, muscular shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks for all your help today. It's always good to have you aboard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Course! I'd sooner move crates for the botanical society than some damn English shipping company any day of the week. 'Sides, you know I'd work for you full-time if I could stand the flying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Mm," Cordelia agreed, snuggling closer to him. Andrew's airsickness was a problem, but not one they had to deal with right away. "Want to go get a drink? I hear the captain's paying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't have to do that," Andrew mumbled. Cordelia could see a flush traveling up his chest and neck on its way to color his cheeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But I want to. Consider it a reward for a job well-done. Come on, up you get!" She hopped to her feet and tugged on Andrew's arm—for emphasis, rather than as a sincere attempt to lift him. He did stand, though, and Cordelia watched as he wriggled back into his shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They walked arm-in-arm to a dockside pub, where Cordelia slipped Andrew a couple bob and let him do the ordering, for the look of the thing. He was also a lot better at muscling the two of them a spot at one of the long communal tables. Cordelia was a minor curiosity at a place like this, but none of the patrons looked likely to offer his seat to a lady.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How's your brother, then?" she asked once they'd sat down. Considering how much Andrew usually liked to talk about Liam, she had heard surprisingly little since the elder O'Rourke had arrived in LITA.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew looked pensively down at his ale, then took a long draught before replying. "It's hard for him, being in London. I still want you to meet him, but now's not a good time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wasn't trying to pressure you," Cordelia reassured. "Liam can take his time acclimating to London—getting used to it, I mean. I'm not going anywhere."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled at that, but still took the opportunity to change the subject: "What about Celine and… Blarion, is it? How're they liking this airborne midden?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cordelia covered her mouth as she laughed, so she wouldn't dribble beer. "Ha, you've never been to Manhattan!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Got less Englishmen, hasn't it? Much better than here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A couple of the men seated around them shot them mean looks. Cordelia just smiled back sweetly, but she suspected that it was Andrew's glower, rather than her charms, that made them turn back to their beers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Blair's well, I think. He's so busy that I've barely seen him since he got to LITA—which is why I haven't introduced you yet either. But that probably bodes well for him, anyway. Celine… seems to be enjoying herself too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That doesn't sound too good," Andrew said, apparently picking up on the change in Cordelia's tone. "What's wrong?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She thinks she and Anil are dating!" Without waiting for a response, she pressed on: "She's dazzled by all the horrible things he knows, I think. And she's never dated anyone, so for all I know, she can't even tell that he has no idea how to comport himself in a relationship! Why, when we were seeing each other—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew's eyes bulged as he nearly choked in surprise. "You used to date the doc?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, shit. Cordelia could have sworn she'd mentioned that little lapse in judgement before. She had confessed to Andrew about her past with Thaddeus, and comparatively, her brief dalliance with Anil was barely even an embarrassment. But it was still a shame that he had to find out like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She snorted. "If you could call it dating," she said, hoping to reassure Andrew with her dismissive tone. "He has no idea how to treat a woman, so we didn't last very long. To be perfectly honest, you're the first worthy man I've ever dated."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm the luckiest man alive, then. Another round?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, thanks." Cordelia squeezed Andrew's hand as he stood up to get their refills. She drew her finger idly through the ring of water left by her mug while she waited for him to return. Andrew knew Anil well enough not to feel threatened, surely, but she did wish she had fewer awful little nuggets of bad judgement in her past to accidentally spring on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Slainte," Andrew said as he sat back down, clinking their mugs together. He drank deep, then added, "I think Doc thinks he and Celine are dating too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Really? What makes you say that?" Cordelia tried to sound like she was only mildly curious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He talks about her a lot and sounds like he likes her. That's rare, o' course. Doc doesn't like anybody. I thought he wasn't—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Capable of love?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hah! I wouldn't go that far. He's a solid friend, if you can get through to him. But he always seemed a little like Liam—more interested in books and such than in women."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, believe me, I know. But when he mentions Celine, he talks like he actually cares about her?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aye." Andrew smiled and nodded. "It's heartening to hear him. Nobody should be alone all the time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cordelia felt as though she'd finally cast off a yoke. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I guess I was working myself up over nothing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shook his head. "It's good, you caring about your sister like that. She's lucky to have you in her corner."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He put one of his big hands over hers. It was rough and warm, and as comforting as his words.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>